No. 11 Stanford women’s basketball (2-1) was edged by Gonzaga (3-0) 63-68 at home this Friday in its third consecutive home game. This was the first time Gonzaga head coach Lisa Fortier has beaten Stanford in her 13-year career as Gonzaga’s head coach.
During the first half, both teams struggled to get open shots due to solid defense on both sides. The Cardinal defensive efforts culminated in two forced last-second shots in the early minutes of the first half.
After being down by 10 points in the third quarter, the Cardinal managed to come back and take a five-point lead — their largest of the game — thanks to an 18-3 run led by senior forward Erica McCall.
“We had a really good comeback in the third quarter. I was very proud of the team. We battled, but Gonzaga played really well,” McCall said.
During the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs dominated, shooting 4-for-4 from beyond the arc, while the Cardinal combined to go 0-for-4. Over the course of the night, Stanford went 3-for-18 from three-point range against an 8-for-13 performance from Gonzaga.
Down by three with a less than a minute remaining, the Cardinal women attempted a pass across the court to an open Karlie Samuelson, who was instructed to take a three-pointer. This very risky pass, however, was intercepted by the Gonzaga defense. When asked about this play, which came right after a Stanford timeout, head coach Tara VanDerveer recognized that the action was not executed well.
“Obviously we didn’t execute it well. Karlie was open, but they played great defense on her to take the ball back,” VanDerveer stated. “It was overall bad.”
On the offensive side, the Cardinal did not play together as well as they had in their previous games. Although several Stanford women had good scoring games (junior guard Brittany McPhee had 22 and McCall scored 17 on the night), the Bulldogs defense held the Cardinal offense to 37-percent shooting. The Gonzaga offense forced fouls on Samuelson and McCall, which forced VanDerveer to take two of her best players off the court.
On the other hand, Gonzaga showcased an efficient offense led by Jill Barta (26 points) and Elle Tinkle (18 points) and was able to find the open shots Stanford could not find.
VanDerveer also highlighted that her team struggled on the free throw line, which ultimately hindered its attempted comeback.
“We didn’t take advantage of the free throw line,” VanDerveer said. “Sixteen-for-24 is not the efficiency we want to get to.”
The Cardinal return to action this Sunday, hosting Cal State Northridge before leaving to play in Cancun.
Contact Alexandre Bucquet at bucqueta ‘at’ stanford.edu.